5 easy tips to keep your contact list up-to-date

As the weather (finally!) warms up, it’s time for a spring cleaning. Of the digital kind.

Clean the list

If you haven’t contacted your list in more than 6 months, consider sending a reconfirmation campaign. It’s a proactive way to…

Ask your contacts to confirm that they’re still interested in the kind of emails you’ll be sending

Weed out any emails that no longer exist

Get proof of consent, in the form of a digital timestamp, if you had uploaded your list of contacts

Why 6 months?

International legislation has “expiry dates” on some forms of consent obtained through existing relationships. This includes consent obtained by someone downloading a white paper, or asking for a quote via an online form on your website

Send the campaign to your existing list (when they click, they’ll be taken to an online form for your new, pristine list)

Delete your old list after your reconfirmation campaign

Going forward, make sure the sign up form on your website gets people to sign up to your clean master list.

Keep it clean

These five, easy tips will help your contact list stay clean and up-to-date over time:

1. Make it a double (opt-in list)

Double opt-in lists, also known as “confirm opt-in lists” request your contacts to confirm their email address by clicking on a link before they receive a “regular” email.

This method is recommended since only the true owner of the email address can sign up and confirm their subscription – minimizing spam complaints. It also prevents you from adding incorrectly typed addresses to your list.

2. Send confirmation emails after getting in-person confirmation

If you want to add people to your list after meeting them at a trade show where business cards were exchanged, after a phone call where you asked if they wanted to receive your email marketing messages or after they dropped by your place of business and signed a guest book, it’s a good idea to get a digital time stamp by sending them a confirmation message with a link they can click to get added to the list.

Pro Tip: Use the template and instructions for the reconfirmation campaign as above, just change the wording of the email to mention where you met them.

3. Maintain frequency

Contact your list at regular intervals. While you should contact them a minimum of once every six months, though we recommend once every four to six weeks. Tell your contacts how often they can expect to hear from you in the confirmation or the welcome email you send them.

4. Let them unsubscribe painlessly

The unsubscribe mechanism should be clear and obvious – ideally, a visible link or button that clearly indicates that they no longer will receive emails from you. The only information that should be required in order for them to be removed from a list is their email address.

Note: Cakemail adds an unsubscribe tag automatically if you didn’t add it to your campaign.

5. Targeted messages

Not everyone wants to hear what you have to say all the time. Create groups based on interest, previous purchases or actions they’ve taken on emails you’ve sent them previously.